Final post of Final Project, really

Here's my final final ( for real this time). I think some of the positives of this logo include:
1) It has an economy of design that translates well to very large or very small and in color or black and white formats.
2) It represents an important aspect of the company - the legal profession - with the scales of justice.
3)It has a sense of place. Crown King is a gold mining town and scales were used by gold prospectors. The colors are taken from traditional Southwestern art. And the gold is in the scale trays, hinting at the gold of Crown King and success for the company.

I moved the text to the side to reinforce a better visual hierarchy and it makes the text easier to balance.

Thanks to John and to all my fellow classmates for making this a fun and satisfying project.
Ann

Final Project Part 1

I'm dividing my blog posting into two sections, the ones I liked the best in this entry and then some "process pieces" in the blog posting below.

These two versions are the same design with a different layout of the text.

I originally did this design as the scales of justice with some Southwest landscape colors in the background. We discussed this image in class and I got positive feedback. But we also discussed the concern that C K Books might expand beyond the legal profession. Is it wise to limit the logo to a legal theme? I thought that was a valid concern. So I tried some designs with a desert theme. They are shown in the posting below. They just didn't melt my butter. So I put some more thought into my original design and had a light bulb moment.

Crown King is an old gold mine in Arizona. It's in the mountains and I'm not even sure that it is in a desert, well, maybe a high desert. It's history is all tied into the gold mine. And gold mines remind me of gold prospectors. And gold prospectors used scales to weigh their gold. So I'm thinking that when an attorney sees this logo, he or she will think of the scales of justice. But maybe, when someone who has been to Crown King sees it, they will think of gold.

To reinforce that idea, I rethought my colors. I moved the gold color of my earlier design to the scale trays. It's a subtle hint of scales filled with gold. Then I used the blue of an Arizona sky and the dark red often seen in Southwest landscapes for the other background colors. To reinforce the gold theme even further, I used gold for the text. I've tried this image in black and white and in many sizes and I think it will work in multiple formats.

Thanks for viewing. Comments welcome. And good luck on the final to all of you.
Ann

Process Pieces for Final

These are some of the process pieces I worked through for a logo for C K Books. I liked the combination of the scale and the desert colors. But I thought I would try making the scales gold and the "sky" blue. I was pleased with it in color. But when I tried it in black and white it was a total failure. I'm sure this is because of the low contrast between the gold and the blue hues. I could probably adjust the colors and fix it in black and white. But it wasn't my favorite so I didn't.
In class we talked about the desert theme, or at least a theme that wasn't totally tied to the legal profession. So I tried a few desert theme designs. The thing I like best about the top one is that it looks like a sun in color and a moon in black and white. But I'm really not crazy about them. So I didn't polish them up for the final. But I thought I would have them here just in case I need a backup plan.

Rough draft for final

Here's a sample of what I'm working for on the final project. I was going to do a book cover. But all my ideas proved hard to execute. So I decided on a logo project instead. I wanted to combine a legal theme and something to tie into the desert. So I decided on the scales of justice with desert sunset colors in the background. I was going to have someone holding the scales. But it's too busy for a small logo.

For the type I used CopprplGothic Light. I like it because it's clear, simple and easy to read. I don't like that it's all caps. So I tried Monotype Corsiva. I'm not sure about it's legibility in small print.

I'm trying this out in color and in black and white. I think it closes some of its impact in black and white. But then most any logo in color losing something when printed in B&W.

It's still a work in progress. Thanks for viewing. All comments and suggestions welcome.
Ann

Time - Project 7

I think that once again I didn't really understand this assignment. I thought we were suppose to pick a phrase, divide it into 4 or 5 sections, make a piece of each one and then put them all together for one final piece. That doesn't really make any sense, but that's what I did.

I picked two phrases: "Age is just a number!" and "Time is an illusion." I did a few versions of each and decided they were both suited to a starry night, space background. I recently received an antique watch and was inspired to put that in somehow.

This is really two pieces stitched together. First I made the starry night sky on the left half in Photoshop. I started with a blue layer and added depth using the leaf brush in the dodge and burn modes. Then I added the stars with a brush and pencil in several layers and blurred all of that. I duplicated my sky, moved it to cover the right side of the canvas and then flipped it over so it wouldn't look like a mirror image of itself.

Then I added my text. I used a font called Viner Hand. I wanted it to look hand written across the sky. For the linear element, I used the line of text. I did each phrase separately. On the right side I used a mask layer on the text and applied a gradient to make it look like illusion was fading away.

Next I added in the pictures of the timepiece. And I put a flare on the face of the watch just to add a little cosmic detail. I had originally done this as two separate pieces but in order to get it balanced, I had to redo it as one piece, moving the text and watches around for better balance.

Before I decided on this composition, I tried several other versions with the same phrases. One of the "age" pieces that I did and liked is the phrase, "Age is just a number." repeated over and over - like someone saying it over and over trying to convince themselves it's true. I superimposed the text over a calendar. I used browns and reds for the text, the same colors in the vintage calendar. I liked this one but couldn't figure out a similar image for the "time" phrase I was using.


I did a "Time is an illusion" with a starry sky. I liked this one. But I thought the text I choose - abduction - was hard to read. Abduction doesn't have lower case which bothers me. I oriented the text to the right and used a vertical line as my linear element. Afterward I decided to delete all the stars to the right of the line. So I guess that line is the end of time. I liked the starry sky background, so I decided to use that background but different type for my final image.

I fiddled around with several other ideas. Most of them I trashed before they were finished. Well, here's one that I didn't finish but didn't delete. I decided I didn't like it as a simple clock. I wanted to do real ornate, scroll work hands and that was harder and more time consuming than I thought it would be. This was just a rough draft. I didn't line up all the dots for the numbers on the clock. And it was a challenge to get the text lined up and sized right. This one was just more time and trouble than it was worth.

Proportion Study with Line, Point and Edge

Here is my proportional study with line, point and edge. I wasn't really clear on these instructions (so what else is new). But I was thinking about a wave as my force of nature. I started on a standard arithmetic grid. I tried to get the center of the wave a little up and right of center of the canvas. My hope is that the viewer's eyes will move from the busy bottom left to the center of the wave. I did this in blue and white instead of black and white. Then I decided it needed a little more depth. So I made a layer using a gradient of ocean colors and liquified it to mimic the swirl. I then lowered the opacity of the blue background so the color variations showed through.

Letterforms

Our assignment was to produce a compilation of 9 letterforms into a 3 X 3 grid. I decided to use the letter D since I'm from Big D (Dallas, TX). The center D has a flying Pegasus, the old logo for Mobil Oil. When I was growing up in Dallas, there was a neon Pegasus spinning on top of the Mobil building. It was the most recognized landmark of downtown Dallas. I took a picture of a smaller version on another building and used photoshop to have him leaping through my center D. The other Ds I did in black on white background. It looked rather dull, so I decided to add a little gray as a background. When I did, the letters created a mask, leaving their outline in white on the background layer of my image. I thought the white letters on gray looked better than the black on white. So I made all the layers invisible except the background and the center D. This is one of those assignments where I am taking John's word that the process is more important than following the specific details of the assignment. So I decided to ignore those instructions that I didn't like - such as having all black and white and having all the letters the same size. This, I think is much more interesting.
Thanks for viewing.
Ann

Contrast studies

For my contrast studies, I choose circles to do in random and in orderly layout. I really tried to do this in black and white. But the red circle really wanted to be there. I did both images in photoshop.

Midterm

Assign 4a - photo study of shells

Asymmetrical Balance

I had trouble even getting started with this assignment because I wasn't clear what the outcome was suppose to be. Thanks to John's clarification, I think I know what I'm trying to do here. I wasn't sure if all the photos were suppose to be the same subject matter or not. But I decided to give it a try using shells as my subject. As I understand it, I am suppose to illustrate principles of design through a series of photographs. I resisted the temptation to photoshop these. Other than cropping, these are just as they came out of the camera (except for the ones for orientation).

The one I've posted at the top is my asymmetrical balance shot. This was the easiest one to do and one of my favorites. It's pretty much the shells as they were in the bowl. I rearranged a few of them to spread out the colored ones from the white ones. I took this (and most of these) on my kitchen counter in front of a large window with natural light.

Next up - symmetrical balance.

Symmetrical Balance

This is not my favorite - it's a little too bland. But it is as close to symmetrical as I could get using the shells I had available.

Alternative Symmetrical Balance

This is my alternative for symmetrical balance. I like it better. It has more depth, more interest. But, it's not as symmetrical as the one above. When I set up this picture, I started not to use the shells that were broken with large pieces missing. But once I starting working with them, I decided they add interest and character. I almost used this photo for my illustration of repetition. That is a problem I'm having with this assignment. Several of my pictures could represent more than one design principle.

Now, color balance.

Color Balance

Most of the shells I have are white, brown or a grayish blue. So even though this isn't very colorful, I think it's a good balance of the color I had to work with. I hate to admit it but the background surface for this picture is my bathroom counter top. And yes, it really does have gold flecks in it. But it was the right color, so I'm just going to imagine the gold flecks are grains of sand.

Next, dominance.

Dominance

Other than dominance with size, I wasn't sure what to do here. Then I noticed this tiny delicate shell trapped inside a larger chunky shell. So I did no set up here, just letting Mother Nature speak for herself.

And now repetition

Repetition

This has the repetition of the swirls, shape and almost size. Looking at it now, I wish I had put them closer together to give more of a connected group feel to it.

Alternative Repetition

This is an alternative for repetition. The basic shape of the shells repeats, but the size and color give contrast.

Now for scale.

Scale

I had trouble with this one and I'm not sure this will be my final choice here. I have a lot of small and medium size shells and then this one way bigger than all the others. I tried to show the large one in comparison to smaller ones of the same shape and color. But there is nothing in the photo to give it perspective. I'll think on this one some more.

And now, orientation

Orientation

This one was a challenge. I finally decided to take one interesting shell and photograph it from several different angles. I put three of them into this collage. Although I like this little collage, I'm not sure it's the best representation for this assignment. I might do something else here too.

Alternative to Orientation

Okay, I should be embarrassed by this on. I wanted to think outside the box for orientation. So I waited until it got dark, pulled out some flash lights and played around with shining lights through some of the shells. I think it was a good idea, but I'm no good at night photography. This is the only photo in this assignment that I adjusted in photoshop. I had to brighten it up and lighten it. I'm not at all happy with the results. It's grainy and dull. But this is a learning experience and I have no pride. So here it is.

Rhythm or Movement

Rhythm or Movement

This is a closeup of a shell. Even though it's not moving, I think the pattern of the shell implies movement of water.

And finally, pattern.

Pattern

This one might have been my repetition. But I decided it showed a nice contrast of two patterns, the deep ridges of the darker shells contrasted against the the fine circular patterns in the white shells.

Thanks for viewing. Comments and suggestions appreciated.
Ann

Season Collage - Winter Reflections

I'm posting this early. I know it needs more work but I need to step back from it for a day or so. The assignment was to make a collage using a triad color scheme that reflects a season. I decided to try to capture the mood of the winter season of the year and the winter season of life. The man in the picture is my 87 year old dad who is suffering from dementia. He was put in hospice care this month and is now at that time in his life where he looks back more than looks forward. Unfortunately, his memories are fading and he feels isolated from the world and his own life. So that is what I was trying to express in this collage.

The first color choice was easy because blue is the color of cold and winter. Since elderly lose their visual acuity, I wanted all the colors to be muted. So for the triad scheme, I picked a very faded yellow-orange and a faded purple. These are not the colors I would have picked had it not been stated in the assignment. But after working with them, I think they do work.

In the top panel, I put a picture of my dad filtered through photoshop. I left him isolated from the rest of the scene to reflect his feelings of isolation. In the lower panel are photos of some of his memories, all distorted, faded, and blowing away. I left his high school picture more clear because that is the time in his life he remembers most clearly. There is text floating in and out of the photos. I intentionally made the text faded and hard to read to represent the difficulty dementia patients have accessing their memories.

I will continue to work on this one. And will appreciate any comments - good or bad - from our class.
Thanks for reading and viewing,
Ann

Graphic Animal

John suggested I clean up my swan picture from the previous post. So here is a new and improved version. I had trouble figuring out what to do about the feet. In the source photo the feet are under water. Now that I'm blackened out the water, it looked like the swan was missing feet. So I just simplified the form by removing the leg. Does that work? Does anybody miss the leg?
Ann

Chapter 3 - Imagery- Graphic Animal

This first picture is not part of this assignment. But when I was looking for my dog pictures from a 4th of July event, I found this one. The dog and the people were all in the shade of the harbor shelter. The boats were in bright sunlight. So I did some playing around in Photoshop to try to salvage the silhouette. This process is similar to what I used to do this assignment.


If I understand this assignment right, we are to do black-and-white graphic reductions of animals. Well the text's instructions are to draw, which I'm no good at. So I'm taking photographs of animals and simplifying them. I got totally carried away with this because I was watching the Westminster Dog Show. I can't believe I spent 2 hours of my life watching dogs lap around Madison Square Garden. But it made me think about how individual all dogs are yet have the characteristics of their breed. So I searched through my dog photos and did some simplifications. I put them in photoshop and used three different filters - torn edges, cutout or stamp. After several hours of playing around with the dogs, I decided it would be better to do another animal. So I tried some swans. Here's a few of them followed by the original photographs.

This one is my favorite for this assignment, I think because swans have that long neck they are always curving. I think that's their signature feature.







Some of the dogs turned out well enough to show their personality, even though they were simplified. I couldn't reduce them as well as the swans. But I'm going to post a few anyway.

Niki is always recognized around town for his short legs and stylish rain gear.

Skipper with the sad eyes.

CD's pup, part German Shepard with the pointy ears.

This black lab always has his tongue hanging out.

As for the Critique Discussion Points from the assignment: Yes, I think my final simplified image maintains the essence of a swan. It has the graceful form and the signature pose of a swan. One thing I learned about swans is that they have a lot more color than I thought. What I found most challenging about this assignment was trying to simplify the dog photos that weren't profiles. Most of the dogs I couldn't simplify enough without them turning into big, black blobs. I like the pictures anyway, so I'm posting them.
--Ann

Graphic Artist Link

As John suggested in class, I'm adding a link to a favorite graphic artist/designer. His name is John Rubio, currently of Austin, Texas. He does many types of design work from designing gift cards (you know someone has to design those things) to corporate logos and web sites. At his site, if you go to the first link - to "design" and then to "logo and identity" you'll see several logos he's developed for everything from a swim suit company to a green energy company to a roller derby cheer leading squad. A lot of these designs really illustrate what we've been working with this last week. I especially like the swim wear one. Click through them and shop around. I think you'll enjoy it.

John also does a lot of cartoon and animation stuff. And I think he has a pretty straightforward, easy to follow web site for being such an artist type. He does have very good taste (I know this because he married my niece) but a wicked sense of humor. One think I've learned from looking at the variety of his work, is that to be successful commercially, designers have to design for their clients taste, not their own.

So if your roller derby cheer leading squad needs a new logo, Rubio is the man for the job.
Later,
Ann

Project 2 - Expressive type and design

I wish I had more time to play with this. But not this weekend. I've had several ideas that I could not execute in the software I have available. In fact some of my fonts have gone missing since I set up my Adobe Bridge. I don't know if that has anything to do with it. But it looks like I have different fonts on my old desk top that doesn't have PS set up. Has anyone else noticed this?

Anyway, this is what I have so far. Stodgy - an adjective for something hard to digest. I think of stodgy as globby, fattening food so I wanted my word to look globby and fat. I started out with a big fat font, Bauhaus 93 at 105pt. I typed it in Photoshop and applied filters. First I used the sponge filter to give the characters some variation in color. Next I spherized twice so it would be nice and round. Then I applied the Mosaic tiles to give it a little more character.

Next up was ornate, as in too much decoration to be useful. So I found the most frilly font I could (Parchment at 48 pt) and I added a little color just to make it more ornate. The color was done with the gradient tool in Photoshop. And the colors don't show up as well on the blog as on my photoshop screen. I don't know why I made it so much smaller than stodgy. But I like it small and more delicate.

Sludge always reminds me of my father's warnings to change the oil in my car frequently. So I wanted my sludge to look like thick black oily gunk. I used a font called chiller at 105 pt. I also used the gradient tool in Photoshop on this to give some variation in the color. And I added a little smudge to finish it off.









I saved crush till last because I had to change computers to get the right font. When I thought about expressive type for crush, all I could think of was type being pressed or squeezed. Of course there is another definition to the word crush - an adolescent infatuation. So I decided to take a different approach to the word crush and try to put myself in the mindset of a 10 year old girl in math class, trying to concentrate on long division when all she can really think about is the dreamy guy sitting on the second row.



The font I used here is called chick. I changed the color of each letter because that's what a 7th grader would do in the throws of a crush. I decided to use this one as the one to expand. So I added a little mindless doodle in a font called Curlz MT. It was such a simple idea, but it ended up taking 4 layers in Photoshop to get all the elements in. I'm finding there are limitations to working with text in photoshop. But the work I did in Word didn't load up to the blog. So here is my last word of the day.

Orientation Quiz

A. What is something that is going well in your life?
I'm embarking on a new career path, hoping to become a certified computer geek by May, 2010. I enjoy being a college student (which is good since this is my 3rd degree endeavor).

B. What are your specific goals for this class?
I hope to obtain a fundamental knowledge of graphic design for use in web site design. For me that means learning when to stop, how much can go on a page and how to design for a customer rather than myself.

C. What was your first experience with design, computers and imaging technology like?
I took some digital photography classes at UAS-Sitka with Tim Schoder a few years ago. I loved the classes. But those were photography and Photoshop classes, not design.


D. Do you usually work on a Mac or a PC and why?
When I bought my first computer, Mac was mostly for education and PC was for everybody else. I've always used PC. But with all the trouble with Vista and the lack of support from MS, I'm almost ready to jump ship.

E. What is your experience level with any of the other image editing or vector programs available?
Okay, I'll admit that I don't even know what a vector program is. So I guess my experience there is zero. I have used Jassc with it's pretty simple adjustments to color, contrast, brightness, and cropping. I've done some photo manipulation work on Photoshop Elements and a little on Photoshop CS1.

F. What is something you liked about your day today?
Nice relaxing dinner with friends.

G. How do you plan to use what you learn in this class?
I hope to do web design and maybe some desktop publishing professionally.

H. What would make this class go very well for you?
Finding all the pieces of hardware for my desktop computer in working order. My house was flooded Monday morning and I had 4 inches of standing water in my home office and living room. That was enough to totally submerge my surge protector. I have no idea if I've lost my entire system. And the people who came in to help me pack and move to tempory housing didn't label boxes. I have about 72 boxes to go through to find and re-connect everything. If I can get through this hurdle in the first week without falling behind, I'll be alright. Otherwise I'll be spending my time at campus in the computer center.

I. How do you plan to make this class go very well for you?
I have to get organized and get my house in order. This is not the type of class I could easily catch up if I get behind. As for the subject matter, I have to relax and try new things.

J. What do you do for creativity on an on-going basis?
Write, write and then write some more. I'm in a women writers group that meets weekly. I also try to do Artist Dates as recommended by Julia Cameron in the Artist's Way.

K. Who is Milton Glaser? Paul Bass?
Milton Glaser is a graphic designer. Paul Bass I don't know, unless it is suppose to be Saul Bass, also a graphic designer.

L. Do you own or have access to a color image scanner?
I did Monday. I'm praying that it didn't get ruined in the flood.

M. What software application will you be using for the course?
I bought Photoshop CS-4 and installed it on my desktop, which is now scattered in several boxes. Unfortunately I hadn't installed PS CS on my laptop. So if I can find the CD, I'll be using PS. If not, well I'll just keep looking until I do.

Welcome to fellow UAS students

This is the first blog I've created. So please bear with me. Postings here will document my progress in CIOS 108 as I learn graphic design for computers. For better or for worse, here we go. . .